


Slither Skin

by queenklu



Series: tumblr au meme ficlets of randomness [2]
Category: Vikings (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Modern Era, Multi, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-25
Updated: 2013-03-25
Packaged: 2017-12-06 12:08:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/735464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenklu/pseuds/queenklu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tattoos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Slither Skin

Ragnar got his first snake tattoo the instant he was legal—literally made an appointment at midnight with an artist he’d chatted to for a while, and waited. It was a thin serpent, coiled around his wrists, barely wide enough to show color, scales of green and blue and gold. “Like your eyes,” the artist said, and Ragnar kissed him for it, hot from the buzz of a needle and the leather of the chair.

His second tattoo is much larger. A snake, barely—half constrictor, half dragon, draped around his shoulders, the head curled down to rest against his collarbone. Its gold eyes seem to shift with his breathing, but never blink, staring down his enemies as he runs through the streets, hellhounds snapping at his heels.

The third is for Lagertha, no matter what she says. “Why on your belly,” she asks, trailing a fingertip over his still-pink skin. “Why not over your heart?”

“Because you ate my heart, and I ate yours,” he whispers against the feathers of her loose hair, hand gliding down the leather of her jacket.

The last is when they find their priest, the one top of his class in seminary school, the one with the bright eyes and the mouth quick to laugh. He’s not of their world, yet. Not yet but soon, soon, and finally they bring him to the parlor with their arms coiled around him and he’s shaking he’s so happy, scared, and loved.

“Right here,” Ragnar says, tapping the top of Athelstan’s spine with two fingers, jabs like fangs sinking in. “A Celtic knot with a serpent’s head.”

“Like the Book of Kells,” Athelstan perks up, and Lagertha looks sideways at him, fondly.

“Like a brand,” she says, “all ours to see,” and he shivers into her mouth when she kisses him.

**Author's Note:**

> panpandeus also drew [GORGEOUS ART](http://panpandeus.tumblr.com/post/46143178593/ragnar-with-snake-tattoos-and-open-jeans-based) for this little fic! Be sure to check it out!


End file.
